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Full Details

Surname
BRABBAN
Forename
John Greener
Day
05
Month
02
Year
1906
Age
53
Occupation
Deputy
Mine/Quarry Name
Ouston, A Pit
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Charles Perkins & Ptrs
Location
Ouston
County
Durham
Details of Event
A drop staple (8 fathoms deep) in the Ouston A pit is used for lowering coal from the Low Main to the Hutton Seam; it is fitted up with two cages running in wooden guides, each holding a single tub. The rope passes with one dead coil round a wheel at the top and motion is controlled by a powerful brake applied to the wheel and worked in the Low Main Seam. Electric signals from the bottom to the top are used, the push placed 5 feet from the flat sheets at the bottom on an upright beam between the cages consisted of a plain spring with a knob on it, and very little pressure was necessary to cause contact. Workmen had been allowed to use the staple at one time, but latterly this had been restricted to officials, and they were in the habit of getting on the cage top instead of inside for two reasons 1st, so as not to interfere with the lowering of the coal, and 2nd, because the cages were under better control when containing the ordinary load. Deceased, who was on his way to the Hutton seam to write his report, got on to the top of one of the cages which contained a loaded tub and was safely lowered to the bottom. The attendant there took out the loaded tub and moved away with it. The attendant at the top took out the empty tub and stated he then received a signal from the bottom and in this he was corroborated by another person at the top; he put in a loaded tub and then commenced to lower but finding at once that the ascending cage was light he put on the brake. Deceased was found jammed between the cage he had descended on and a cross beam 7 feet above the flat sheets at the bottom. The only apparent explanation of the accident was that he had inadvertently touched the signal while in the act of getting off the cage and that it had moved away before he was clear. The manager arranged to prohibit riding on the tops of the cages and to fix a push less liable to be accidentally pressed. The Local Inspector reported, ‘we are of opinion that it was a pure accident.’